Susan Søgaard about the magic of Yin Yoga

Yin yoga balances and soothes when hormones are racing

For Susan Søgaard, founder of Senses and instructor in the yin yoga education program, yin yoga is an essential source of well-being during the transition from adulthood to mature womanhood.

In September, Senses will begin a 60-hour yin yoga education program. Susan Søgaard has written a bit about yin yoga’s balancing, calming, and soothing potential, which is beneficial for all individuals but particularly for women going through menopause.

Even though yoga is for everyone regardless of gender and age, the majority of yoga practitioners in the West are still women. Our experience is that a significant portion of students in our yin yoga classes are women approaching or already past the age of 50. If you’re a yoga teacher, there are good reasons to be interested in how you cater to this specific group in your teaching. If you’re a yoga student, there’s a good chance you either belong to this group or will belong to it in the future, and Susan has some advice for you: start practicing yin yoga – the sooner, the better.

Yin yoga is your support during menopause

I wish I could whisper into the ear of every adult woman that the time is now! It’s now that you should start, if you haven’t already, a regular yin yoga practice. Don’t hesitate, as there are so many benefits to experiencing menopause with a flexible and agile body and a balanced mind when hormones are racing.

Yin yoga has numerous benefits that most individuals, regardless of gender, age, or life stage, can benefit from. However, personally, I find it particularly intriguing how yin yoga is almost magical when it comes to women approaching or in the midst of the transition from adulthood to maturity.

As a woman who has already passed the age of 50, I’ve experienced firsthand how profound yin yoga can be. Its effects are felt quite quickly, and that’s what keeps drawing me back to the yoga mat again and again. This experience is consistent with the feedback I receive from my yoga students. Yin yoga is ideal for women around menopause because it can serve as a support through the changes that occur during this phase of life, where both our physical, mental, and emotional well-being are affected by hormonal fluctuations.

Maintain the body’s flexibility

To maintain a healthy body that you enjoy inhabiting, it’s essential to work on strength, cardiovascular fitness, and flexibility. This is where yin yoga becomes a crucial part of the optimal maintenance package.

With yin yoga, we work to increase the body’s mobility and flexibility. These two factors are vital for both your sense of well-being in the body and for the body’s functionality in daily life. With a mobile and flexible body, you can still bend down to tie your shoelaces, rise from the floor unaided, and walk up and down stairs without holding onto the railing.

If you haven’t encountered challenges like these yet, I can assure you they will come over time if you don’t take preventive measures. As we age, our joints become stiffer, and stiff joints often lead to pain. Yin yoga can help alleviate this pain. You might already experience improvement while in yin yoga positions, and by maintaining your practice, the relief can become lasting.

Find tranquility and maintain balance

Yin yoga isn’t just a physical practice; it’s equally a tool for balancing and calming the mind. Yin yoga is a quiet and introspective practice that can help us manage internal pressures such as stress, anxiety, and restlessness. Regardless of where you are in your life, yin yoga can be a valuable tool for finding peace and maintaining balance through hormonal changes.

In my experience with yin yoga, it brings mental clarity, which I emphasize both in my teaching and in my personal practice. Yin yoga trains the ability to be present in the moment, to be mindful, and therefore aware of how I’m feeling, how I want to feel, and what I can do to achieve that. It’s helpful for most people, but it’s particularly invaluable during menopause, where hormonal fluctuations can create a sense of being unable to make decisions or even feel how one is doing. Lying on the yoga mat and focusing one’s attention on everything happening inside or on the breath can be a way out of the mental cave, even if only for a while.

The sooner, the better

For me, yin yoga is both a means to achieving a flexible and agile body and an inner journey that can enhance self-awareness, strengthen self-esteem, and pave the way for personal growth and a stronger connection with oneself. They say it’s never too late to start. That’s true, but as time passes, it becomes harder and harder to attain a reasonable level of well-being in body, emotions, and mind. Therefore, I say the sooner, the better. Don’t postpone your journey toward physical, emotional, and mental well-being.

If you’re curious about Senses’ 60-hour yin yoga education, read more about it here. The education starts on September 14, 2023. NOTE: it will be taught in Danish only!